Intel E4300/G965 vs AMD low-power chips

The guys from The Tech Report got a request from Intel to do a test to see how their Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 alongside the G965 Express chipset lines up against the low-power AMD Athlon X2 BE-2350 and AMD 690G chipset.

To their surprise, they found that the Intel config provides a very power-efficient system that can nearly rival AMD's low-power desktop platform.

These results don't really alter our original estimation of the Athlon X2 BE-2350 and 690G chipset combo. AMD has achieved a smaller power footprint than the competition by offering a CPU specifically tailored for low-power applications, and we're pleased to see that development. At its price, the BE-2350 remains a bargain.

We've learned, however, that the Core 2 Duo E4300 and G965 chipset can also form the nucleus of a very power-efficient system, one that nearly rivals AMD's low-power desktop platform. That's true in spite of the fact that the Core 2 Duo E4300 isn't billed as an especially low-power part like the Athlon X2 BE-2350 is. That's an impressive result, in my view, and a testament to the overall power efficiency of Intel's standard desktop Core 2 Duo processors and their supporting chipsets.